Page 73 of Call of the Blood

“Weird…” I agreed, trailing off. “But good information. Where did he keep it?”

“In the nest; he kept it in his closet on the top shelf,” Declan answered.

“You went into vampire nests?” Lexi asked in the background.

“Oh yeah, our parents worked there,” Declan answered, clearly smiling for a moment. “And our uncle lived there as a vampire, remember? I told you this.”

“It’s just a culture shock,” Lexi said quickly. I just let them talk as I walked into the bedrooms and checked the closets. There were three bedrooms total, and it was the last that turned out to be the big primary in the back. I checked the time, seeing it was already nearly two hours into the night. I hadn’t made as good time as I’d thought, but there was no evidence of Henry getting home yet, so I was still comfortable.

I opened the closet and froze.

“Declan. Lock all your doors,” I ordered, causing the couple to stop talking. “And windows.”

“I got it,” Lexi said, and I heard her footsteps.

“What’s wrong?”

“Um…” I was too stunned to get anything else out after my initial, visceral reaction for Declan’s safety. “H-Hold on.” I stared blankly at it for a long time, trying to comprehend it. I took a step closer.

Pictures. So many pictures. A box on the floor, tons of them scattered around all over the floor of the closet. Me, Declan, our mother, our father, people I didn’t recognize, old pictures from the last century. Some with Henry, some without, but those were secondary.

The really disturbing thing was the wall at the end of the long closet. Clothes on either side, but not at the end.

Oh my God…

I stepped closer again, careful of the photos on the ground. I reached what I could only describe as a shrine.

Pictures of Declan and me. Every single one of them. From all ages. I tried to figure it out. Where they came from, when they were. I saw us both in our college years. I saw Declan on a beach at night in California when he was just settling into the city. There were fewer pictures of me. Only when I left Portland.

Because he couldn’t go there… while Jacob was alive.

I saw Declan and me at our mother’s funeral and wanted to be sick. Even before that, me hanging out with my human friends while Edwin was in charge. He had come back as quickly as possible once he knew Jacob was dead.

“Everly?” Declan finally broke the silence.

“He’s been stalking us,” I whispered. “Oh my God, Henry has been stalking us for years.”

“Excuse me?”

“He…” I backed up from the wall. “I have to take pictures of this, then I’m coming over, okay? We’re going to talk about this. I would take it all, but…”

I had to leave. I couldn’t bring myself to touch the shrine.

There were recent pictures. Me and Alexius at the safe house Maria lent us. At the blood club. Me going into Declan’s building and leaving it. There were tons of pictures of Declan and Lexi as well, all from a distance. That’s how Henry didn’t know Lexi was a werewolf. He’d never gotten close enough. Or he was a very good liar to me, which…

I wasn’t putting it past him.

“Oh, fuck. Okay. Lexi! Can we call your dad?”

“Oh, yeah, we can do that,” she said. “Let’s hope he’s not in a meeting. I was told he can’t mess up any more of those with our drama without trouble from Alpha.”

“Well, make sure he knows this isn’t little drama. He’ll understand how bad it is to be stalked by a vampire. Get here, Everly,” Declan said.

“I will.” I was glad Declan still remembered how bad it was.

I hung up, then, with my phone, took pictures of the shrine and the photos on the floor. Taking the evidence with me would have been a good idea, but the revulsion in me refused to let me reach out and touch any of them.

I turned on my heel and walked out, unable to keep seeing it. I couldn’t keep looking at it. I started calling Alexius as I got to the street, waiting and waiting for him to pick up. He missed it, so I called again.